Illegal to have no access to the back?

notanewuser

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

:

So, obviously perfectly legal then. I recall in my last area that there were lots of Victorian terrace houses and some of them had no back alley and therefore no access at all to the back yard except through the house. There are some advantages to that, ie no-one can walk up through your side garden and "surprise" you in the back garden.

I lived in one if these very happily for many, many years. Millions of other people have too.

balletshoes

My sister lives in a terraced house, there is no access to her back garden unless its through the house (no alleyway at the back, just more back gardens of her neighbours). The bungalows across the road from my house are the same. The bins are stored in the front of the house.

notanewuser

peachyprice wrote: »

In some area you have no choice, either way.

Here wheelie bins are compulsory, if you don't have one you don't get your rubbish collected (except at christmas). Where my mum lives wheelie bins are banned, if you put one out they won't get emptied.

They tried this with my parents. They live on the side of a hill and all of the houses have around 20 steps up or down and no driveways. They put their rubbish out in bins, while the rest of the village has wheelie bins.

Prothet_of_Doom

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Crikey. I didn't realise that there really are such things as "back to back" terrace houses still:eek:. Bad enough to have a neighbour attached to one or both sides, but back as well and not even a "courtyard garden":eek:

So, obviously perfectly legal then. I recall in my last area that there were lots of Victorian terrace houses and some of them had no back alley and therefore no access at all to the back yard except through the house. There are some advantages to that, ie no-one can walk up through your side garden and "surprise" you in the back garden.

A lad I worked with in 1995 bought one of those for £6K, spent £6K on the kitchen and bathroom, and lived in it from aged 20 to aged 30, and when he got married and had kids couldn't be bothered to sell it, so he rents it out at £300 a month, all of which goes straight into his pension.
He reckons it's great. No garden to worry about. Just a flat over 2 floors really.

MaggieBaking

daveyjp wrote: »

OP has obviously never heard of a "through terrace", which are still being built in their thousands.

I actually live in one :rotfl:

However, I do have right of access through my neighbour's garden to an alleyway down the side. Of course I rarely use it, but I am thinking of the times that I have needed to... Wheeling a bike through, letting the window cleaner in, moving big piles of bricks and our fridge - which was too tall and wide for our front door.

Thanks everyone for your time in answering, I guess it's fine then!

katejo

I live in a terrace with no access other than through the house and there are plenty of such houses here. My bins stay at the front between the house and the front wall. That said, I wouldn't pay a higher figure for a semi which didn't have side access. It is a nuisance not having it some of the time.

Davesnave

I sold some land a couple of years ago to people living in relatively 'posh' terraced houses, then worth around £300k.

I was able to offer them a rear access; something two of the properties had never had, but the owners turned this down, arguing they were more secure as they were.

I then knew why those bl**dy roses had invaded my garden every summer, and why I'd always had to give them 'blight,' otherwise known as weak weedkiller, just to continue using the bottom of my garden.:rotfl:

I couldn't argue with their logic re burglary, but I'm damned if I'd pay that much for a house and still have to take the black bags and bike through it.

lstar337

Hmm, in our new build there are gates at the end of the back garden which lead into the neighbours garden. We asked why, and we were told that due to the fact that the house is taller than the garden is long, there has to be rear access to the house/garden to meet regulations regarding fire safety.

i.e. there has to be an escape route.

These houses were completed early this year.

Gordon_Hose

I live in a terrace and lucky enough to have a shared passage way into our and the neighbours gardens.

Some houses on the street don't, you can tell which ones because they keep their bins at the front of the house. Over the back there is an overgrown orchard full of nettles and bramble bushes. I'd love to see any burglar try and get over our back wall!